Nuclear- Today’s Plants

What Is A Floating Nuclear Power Plant?A floating nuclear power plant is a site with one or more nuclear reactors, located on a platform at sea.

It is an autonomous site that can provide electricity and heat to areas with difficult access, such as the cold Northern territories. It can also provide drinking water to dry areas, via desalination techniques…Read more>> Advantages

The first floating nuclear power plant, in Russia

…It contains two KLT-40C naval propulsion reactors with a 35 MWe capacity each. These are mounted on a barge that is 144 meters long by 30 meters wide. The plant does not self propel, but must be towed to its destination and dock at the required port. Operation is previewed for 2017 at the Chukotka district, in Northwestern Russia.enlarge graphic and read more

Another floating nuclear power plant in China

On the other hand, China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) is planning to complete its construction of a small modular multifunction floating reactor by 2020. It will be the first Chinese floating reactor, with design known as ACPR50S. Construction will start in 2017 and it is expected to start generating electricity by 2020… enlarge graphic and read more

Research for the future

…The design consists of a cylindrical platform. The smaller version is 45 meters wide and would produce 300 MW of electricity. An alternative, larger design could reach 1100 MW, with 75 meters of diameter. In both cases, and in the same way as oil platforms, these sites include staff accommodation and a heliport for transport… enlarge graphic and read more

One of the Manhattan Project’s many legacies is the development of peaceful nuclear reactors. Global nuclear electricity production has grown from under 100 terawatt-hours (one terawatt-hour can power 100,000 homes for one year) in the early 1970s to over 2000 TWh in recent years.

The principles of nuclear power were formulated by physicists in the early 20th century. In 1939, German scientists discovered the process of fission, triggering a race with American scientists to use the incredible power of fission to create a bomb.…Read more>>

After absorbing as many losses as they could, manufacturers ended turnkey offers. By the 1970s, about 200 plants were built, under construction or planned. But a number of factors conspired to end the nuclear boom.

First, cost overruns revealed the true cost of nuclear plants. Once utilities began building the plants as their own projects, their lack of experience with…Read more>>

…CASL operates as an Energy Innovation Hub that brings together teams of top scientists and engineers from academia, industry, and national laboratories to collaborate and overcome the most critical known barriers to achieving national climate and energy goals — goals that have proven resistant to solutions via the normal research and development paradigm….Read more>>

Got Water? explains the cooling water needs of nuclear power plants and describes the various methods used to meet those needs. In addition, this 14-page illustrated backgrounder summarizes some of the problems nuclear power plants have encountered when the insatiable cooling water needs were unmet….Learn more>>